| Popular press articles, as well as some research, suggest that a large amount of information can lead to negative consequences such as poor choice and negative affect such as confusion or frustration. Yet, empirical support for the existence of such an “information overload” has been ambiguous. Some researchers have reported evidence of subjects assigned to high information conditions making poorer choices despite these participants' reports of greater confidence and satisfaction with their decisions.; The research reported herein extends prior work examining information overload by applying automaticity theory. Automaticity theory suggests that some mental processes occur autonomously with little awareness, intention, or control and that these processes can be beneficial in terms of efficiency. Specifically, this study examines goal dependent automaticity in which an individual has a goal of processing the information, but is unaware of all the influences the information has on their behavior. Applying this theory to the present context, consumers learn through previous experiences to automatically associate a negative affect with an amount of information too large to be processed. The theory would predict that consumers are unable to identify the source of this negative affect and attribute it to the current focus of attention—a product within that display. Therefore, the amount of product versions or brands displayed within a product category can influence evaluations of a single brand or version.; In terms of theory, automaticity aids in explaining equivocal results in the information overload literature by suggesting that consumers cannot recognize all influences associated with exposure to a large amount of information and thereby are unable to report them. The research offers insights to retailers' visual merchandising decisions and manufacturers' decisions regarding the optimal number of brand or line extensions. The research predicts an increased impact of alternate methods of distribution such as the World Wide Web. Tests of proposed relationships suggested by automaticity theory were carried out in a computer laboratory. The method involves high-resolution photographs of retail displays presented on computer monitors and is frequently used in studies examining automaticity theory. |
